Lost Gold Chronicles: The Storybrooke Easter Bunny
by CJ Moliere
Summary: Hope Gold is on a mission to prove to her younger brother Nathan that the Eastern Bunny is actually their father, Rumplestiltskin. Rumple wants his son to hold onto to his belief that the legendary rabbit is real and enlists the aid of the White Rabbit himself. Features the White Rabbit from Once Upon a Time In Wonderland!


"He is not!"

"Is too!"

"_Is not_!"

"All right, now who is or is not what?" Rumple demanded when he walked into the living room and found his two youngest children in the middle of a shouting match.

"Hope says White Rabbit isn't the Easter Bunny an I say he is!" Nathan said angrily, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at his sister.

"'Cause he ain't. We get candy because D..."

"Hope Marie Strogoff Gold you stop right there!" Belle ordered when she came into the room just in time to prevent five year old Hope from telling her brother the truth about the Easter Bunny. Always a light sleeper, Hope awoke too early the previous Easter and caught her parents planting candy and plastic Easter Eggs filled with money and gifts all over the house, forcing them to tell her the truth and swearing her to secrecy until Nathan was older. Hope bowed her head.

"Now you two apologize to each other or you'll be spending five minutes facing a wall," Rumple said firmly.

"Sorry," they mumbled.

"That's better. Now who wants to decorate Easter Eggs?" Belle asked.

"I do!" they cried excitedly and followed their mother into the kitchen while Rumple put on his coat and drove into town to ask a favor of a certain rabbit because if he knew his impish daughter, she would wake her brother in the middle of the night and make him learn the truth for himself.

The rabbit family lived in a small cottage custom built for them by the dwarves in Alice and Cyrus's front yard that included all the modern conveniences of all the houses in Storybrooke, miniaturized by magic. Bracing himself on his cane, Rumple kneeled down and tapped his finger on the small door. Had he used his fist, the knock would've been the same as an earthquake in the small house. Minutes later it opened and the White Rabbit emerged.

"Ah, Rumplestiltskin. What can I do for you?"

"It's not so much for me as it is my boy. Easter's in two days and although my daughter now knows there's no such thing as an Easter Bunny, my Nathan doesn't and I really don't to take that fantasy away from him yet."

"You don't know then."

"Know what?"

"You're not the first parent who's asked me to do this...nor the first in your family either. I've been making deliveries to your granddaughter Lilly since she was born, along with most of the young children in Storybrooke. All the parents do is bring a list of the presents they want the children to have and I take it from there."

"Do you need any help? Magically, I mean."

"Oh no. Your cousin Dorothy made me a little sack that I can summon items from just by thinking of my list."

Rumple waved his hand and a list appeared in it. "Here are the things Belle and I want to give the children for Easter. You're sure you don't need any help?"

"Not at all. You and Belle can get a good night's sleep and everything will ready in the morning when the children wake up." the rabbit assured him.

"I appreciate this."

"If it weren't for you or your cousins my family and I never would've escaped Wonderland. We owe you a debt and this is the best way to pay it."

Very early Easter morning Hope snuck into her brother's room and shook him. "C'mon Nathan, get up!"

"Go 'way!" he moaned. "Sleepin."

"I'm gonna show you who the real Easter Bunny is," she said. The toddler sat up and rubbed his eyes, putting on his glasses.

"It's the White Rabbit," he declared.

"Nuh uh. It's Daddy. You'll see."

"No it ain't. He's sleepin."

"Then it's Mommy."

"Mommy's sleepin too. I'll show ya." Nathan hopped out of bed, put on his slippers and led his sister down the hall to their parents' bedroom. Nathan waved his hand and opened the door with magic to reveal Rumple and Belle asleep in their bed.

"See," he whispered. "I told ya. They're sleepin." He closed the door again.

The children went downstairs. Hope was disappointed when she didn't see anything in the baskets on the coffee table which was where her father left the candy and small gifts he bought while their mother scattered Easter eggs for them to find out in the yard. Had he decided not to leave her anything because he knew she was going to try to make Nathan see the truth?

Hearing the front door open, the children dived behind the sofa. The White Rabbit walked into the house with a small sack thrown over his shoulder.

"See, I told ya he's the Easter Bunny!" Nathan whispered to his sister.

"Shhh! He'll hear you then we won't get nuthin!"

The rabbit paused at the coffee table and took a list out of his coat pocket. He stood there for a moment reading it then reached into his sack and started pulling items out of it. Nathan smiled when he saw a backpack in the shape of a turtle. He and his father played golf together at the country club his father owned jointly with Captain Hook in Florida and Rumplestiltskin bought most of his son's golf gear from a website called the Littlest Golfer that had boy and girl turtles as mascots. Now he would have a bag he could carry his snacks and toys in while he followed his father around the course. The White Rabbit placed the backpack beside Nathan's basket. He then filled the basket with candy and smaller toys. Once he was finished he opened his bag again and took out a Disney Animators Collection Belle doll that Hope had been asking for since Christmas along with more smaller toys and candy. His work finished, he tucked the list into his pocket and left the house. The children dashed back upstairs and got in bed before their parents woke up.

"That daughter of ours probably got the shock of her life last night," Rumple chuckled while he and Belle sat in the living room gazing down at the full baskets on the coffee table. "Now...before they wake up...I have a little something for you."

"Oh? It just so happens that I have something for you too."

"You first."

Belle went into the kitchen and took her husband's Easter gift out of the refrigerator. It was a large bar of chocolate in the shape of a spinning wheel.

"I'll be eating this for a month!" he said and chuckled. "How did you do it?"

"Your grandson helped. Henry's going to make a wonderful chef someday. Now, for your other surprise." She handed him a blue velvet box. He opened it and gasped in shock.

"It's a tie pin with the Strogoff crest!" he exclaimed. "How did you get it?"

"I had it made in Boston from a drawing DG made. She didn't know what it looked like but Azkadellia did and she drew it based on Azkadellia's description."

"Thank you sweetheart," he murmured and kissed her. "Now it's time for your gifts." He handed her a box. She opened it and found a large chocolate tea cup complete with a chip inside. Inside the cup was a velvet box. She lifted it out and found a beautiful sapphire ring in the shape of a heart inside.

"It's beautiful," she whispered and kissed him back. Minutes later their two still sleepy children joined them in the living room.

"You don't look surprised to see your presents. Does that mean you were awake when you were _supposed_ to be in bed?" Belle inquired.

"Hope said you an Daddy were the Easter Bunny an she was gonna show me." Nathan answered.

"Tattletale!" Hope cried, sticking her tongue out at him.

"But it was the White Rabbit...just like I said!"

"Was it?" Rumple asked his daughter.

"Uh huh."

"But..."

"No buts Hope Marie. Now did you or did you not see the White Rabbit last night?" Rumple interrogated.

"Uh huh."

"Now that that's settled, let's go see if he left anything in the yard."

"Yay!" The children were out the door in a flash.

"Umm...Rumple...do you have any ideas on how we can handle the Santa Claus issue?" Belle asked her husband. "You know she's been trying to disprove that for a year."

"We'll worry about that around Christmas time." he said.


End file.
